Playing It Safe
by ElegantFantasies
Summary: Bella Swan has decided that Edward Cullen is far too dangerous for her liking, but a certain Lady's Man can't be deterred. Will Bella stick to her decision to play it safe or will a force beyond her control change her mind? A/U OOC B/E, possible B/J too. Who knows! Rated M for Language, Violence, Heavy Stuff Both Good And Bad
1. Trouble

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight. I just play with it a little.**

I did not want to leave the comforting warmth and rumble of my truck to brave the pouring rain that fell on dreary forks. I did not want to face the looks that would surely accompany me, the new student of tiny Forks High, for the next few days until the novelty wore off. I just… did not. I wanted to go home and curl in the new comforter that Charlie had bought. I wanted to eat junk food and read tragic novels until my eyes were raw from angsty teenage tears. I wanted to methodically clean what had seriously become a middle aged man's bachelor pad in the years of my absence.

I did not want to face this day.

Still yet, I turned off my truck with a sigh that would put the melancholy musings of Edgar Allan Poe to shame and lifted the hood of my jacket before stepping out, my backpack slung over one shoulder. I hurried as much as one cursed with the aches of clumsiness could into the school, already feeling the eyes of everyone burning into the back of my ducked head.

The day was a blur of faces that had offered names I had already forgotten, save one.

I had been led, nearly unwilling, into the cafeteria by a bouncy brunette who had latched onto my side like we had known each other for our whole lives. We were accompanied by a snarky blonde whose hair in question had been flat ironed within an inch of death. How she managed to keep it frizzless in this weather made me suspicious that she had her styling tools in her backpack rather than her textbooks. We sat at a table in the center of the cafeteria, much to my dismay and I had only just noticed that the unending chatter that came with the girl had stopped. Her eyes were trained on the table before her, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson and I looked around the table curiously.

"You must be Isabella." It was said as soon as my eyes landed on the most beautiful boy I had ever seen in my entire life. Green eyes and bronze hair and flawless pale skin and my my what was this feeling? My heart fluttered as he made love to my name. It rolled off of his lips sinfully, as if he were trying to thoroughly taste it with the tip of his hellish tongue. Amusement glinted in his eyes and his throat flexed with the sound of his chuckle, drawing my attention the to the black ink that decorated the side of his neck. I shook myself mentally and brought my dull brown eyes back his face.

"Bella," I corrected automatically, stoning myself against him. He was trouble with a capital T-R-O-U-B-L-E, uh-huh. No, _thank you._ Charlie would have my metaphorical balls if I went panting after the likes of this guy.

" _Bella_ ," he repeated, no less sexually and I felt my cheeks flush. "Bella _Swan_." The girl at my side gave a little whimper and I could not hold the weakness against her. If it weren't tragic enough that our puberty ridden bodies were raging with festering hormones, this guy had to go lacing people's name with his roofie spiked voice. He extended his arm across the table to be, his long fingers opening to offer me a hand shake like he were giving me the greatest gift in the world. And the record stopped. The imaginary music in the background that often accompanied situations like this dissipated because, by damn, he was suddenly pissing me off. I felt my chin lift and my eyes cool.

"What do you want me to do, kiss it?" My voice was dry, disinterested, and I prided myself. Shock flitted across his ethereal features before laughter erupted from the boys surrounding him. Boys that, though handsome, I had glossed over entirely as I often did with groups of people. The giant burly one smacked the copper haired teen on his back.

"Can't get them all, can you Edward," He brayed and Edward scowled at him, his beautiful mouth twisting into a mockery of what it had been before. Lunch passed without Edward's gaze returning to me. Instead, he spent the period unleashing his eyes on the brunette who had lapsed into silence when we sat. She quivered at my side, stuttering at his lusty comments and I felt the pity well in my chest for her. It wasn't that she wasn't interested per se. It was more that he made her so at a loss for words that talking to him seemed to be a painful process. It was painful to observe, at least, but I endured. It seemed like she didn't really want to be rescued and who was I to step in the way of a girl's first heartbreak?

Soon the bell signifying that lunch was over rang and I stood, the brunette rising quickly with me, and strode from the room with the strange sense that Edward was watching my exit. Good. Let him see that his first impression did little to impress. Though his face impressed very much. Not that it mattered really at all.

To my utter chagrin, it seemed that the fates of whatever beings looked over the human race did not smile upon me, for when I walked into biology, the only open seat was by him. I took it without hesitation because he would not see me falter. He didn't even look like an Edward. He looked like a Blade or a Shank. Something obnoxiously dangerous. I couldn't believe he just waltzed around with his tattoos all on display like that. Back in Phoenix, if you had tats, you had long sleeves and collars as was per dress code. It seemed Forks was entirely too small for a dress code and I should have figured that when I saw the snide blonde adorning a mini skirt that could probably pass for crotchless panties, denim style.

I let my chestnut tresses fall between us, hiding his crooked smile and catty eyes. It was easy to play the game of defiance when you had a table full of witnesses, but one on one could possibly leave me like the bouncy girl and I'd be a puddle on the floor. No thank you. Not for _Edward_ or any guy like him. Half the class had passed before I heard a sound beside me. I glanced through my hair and nearly pulled back. He was glaring at me. _Glaring._ Surely, Edward wasn't the kind of person to get riled up when someone was maybe a little snarky. I mean, was he?

 _You did just say he looked like a Blade._ With my luck, I pissed off some sort of Forks gang member. He might have been a serial killer or a hitman. With the deadly look in his eye, I would have to say they were all a possibility. Cringing, my eyes flew back to my notes and my hair was back in place, the comforting shield it had been before now nothing but a flimsy weightless thing. What? Had I hurt his feelings and his pride and now he was out to hate me forever? I had a feeling that would make my life a lot more difficult. He seemed pretty popular, revered even and if I was on the receiving end of his wrath, then I would also be the target to at least half of what could only be considered as his gang. The bell rang before I could think more about the outcomes of the tiny lunch exchange that apparently wasn't so tiny. He was up and out before I had closed my notebook. He brushed by my seat as if it were empty and was gone.

"Jeez, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what?" came a voice from behind me and I turned. He was cute, in a safe and comfortable way. Blonde and tan and blue and safe. And so I smiled at his attempt at a joke though, considering Edwards reaction to me, it could have been true.

"No, but I would have liked to," I chuckled, and the boy's face lit up like a golden retriever being offered a yummy treat for being such a good boy. Oh boy. At least Charlie wouldn't have my metaphorical balls if I ever thought this one was worth panting over. I doubted it, but still- safe.

 **Let me know what you think so far! I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter because it's so fast paced but I've always hated when stories take forever to actually Get Started.**


	2. So There

Mike Newton was on the football team. Mike Newton drove an old second (or third or maybe fourth) hand car that, though at least a few decades younger than my ancient truck, was on par with the tastes that I had. It ran and the windows didn't stick. It was perfectly dependable, like Mike. The next few days were filled with his chit chat and his arms holding my books and his very welcoming smile. Ever present and ever loyal, my golden retriever boy.

Of course there was no racing hearts and fluttering butterflies… from my corner at least. I could see the tremor in his hands the first time he asked to walk me to class, I could see feel the slick heat of his palm as he rested it on my lower back to guide me along whatever direction we happened to be going, and I could note the way his cheeks flooded with color when I had allowed him to take my backpack when I pulled into the school parking lot everyday for the last week. What I did not see was Edward- not that I looked for him exactly. I had no desire to glimpse the rusty metallic hair that matched many a patch on the bed of my truck, or skin that was paler than even my own. Doing without the shade of green that reminded me of jade held no horrors in my future.

Yes, I preferred Dependable Mike, Sturdy Mike.

"Bella?" I jolted from my inner musings with a slight gasp and met the worried stare of the teen in question.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked sheepishly. Poor Mike, he looked like he might puke. Was he feeling alright? Did he need to go to the nurse? I opened my mouth to relay those questions aloud but before I could he experienced what I could only describe as Word Vomit.

"MyfriendsandIweregoingtothebeachandIwantedtoknowifyouwantedtocome." I blinked, confused.

"The beach?" I asked slowly. "Forks doesn't have a beach." I gave Mike points where points were due. He didn't scoff or roll his eyes at my brain's failure to put two and two together. Nor did he huff that I had lapsed into a zone, forcing him to talk at me rather than with me.

"Down in La Push," He explained. "On the rez. Our friends up there invited us to a bonfire on their beach and I wanted to know if you would come with us."

"Like a party?" I cringed. I didn't do parties. Parties had music I didn't listen to and drunk teens rubbing their sticky bodies up against each other with half primal, half awkward urgency better suited for a bedroom, or most likely in this case, the backseat of a car. Would Mike want me to girate against him? Would he want me to drink bitter drinks that burned on the going down and lose myself on a sandy dance floor while he dry humped me from behind? I didn't do those things, even if my coordination, or lack thereof, wasn't a factor. Alcohol meant inebriation and inebriation meant spur of the moment decisions and spur of the moment decisions meant losing your virginity to a golden retriever on the ground with sand finding its way into your crack.

"No, No," Mike rushed. "More like a small get together. Just a few people from here and a few people from there." I considered it briefly. In most cases, smaller groups led to more intimate groups and the chances of pairing off were high. Something told me, or rather a lot of little somethings, that Mike was hoping for that very outcome. He was exactly what teen girls would want, I knew this without a doubt. He was popular, sweet, and athletic, but I couldn't see myself enjoying figuring out the ins and outs of the opposite sex with him. Wasn't that the point anyway? To enjoy one's self? He was cute. He was decent. And yes, he was safe, but that didn't necessarily mean I wanted to play the game of Tongue Tug of War with him a week after meeting. I braced myself for what I was about to do.

"Mike, I-," I faltered, wringing my hands in front of me painfully. Would it really be fair to tell him no after he spent all week welcoming me here? He blew off his friends to sit at the table with Jessica and I. He diligently stuck by my side in gym despite the risks that it entailed. He carried my books and walked me to class. Could I really not offer him a simple bonfire to flesh it out and see if maybe I _could_ give him some sort of anything?

"I think that's a 'No', Newton." The gloating voice made me freeze, my gaze still locked on Mike's face, watching as its kindly features twisted into an angry scowl. His eyes lifted from me to the top of my head, or rather behind it. I knew, before Mike had looked at him, that he was behind. The tingle of the hairs on the back of my neck screaming "GET OUTTA THERE" had done a great job in informing me.

"I don't remember asking you into this conversation, _Cullen_ ," Mike's voice took on a tone I had never heard from him before, hot tempered and unwelcoming. Not that I could really blame him. Edward Cullen was an infuriating kind of person. Mike had pulled me gently behind him, despite his anger. Almost as if he were hoping that the protection of his body would shield me from Edward's sex dripping, mind clogging voice.

I looked past Mike's broad shoulders and met eyes with the pale boy, which was a dear dark mistake. He had been standing _entirely_ too close to my back before and his green eyes blazed with an emotion that seemed to elude me. He was smiling, but it was tight, not the usual crooked ensemble. His eyes, still lit with the unnamed, flickered from Mike's face to my own. The sidewalk we occupied leading to the cafeteria suddenly seemed too small. My back scraped gently against the ghastly red brick wall and I felt the sudden urge to bleed into it and disappear. I did not want Edward Culllen's attention.

 _Dangerous._

"Can't help a guy for noticing this pretty little thing doesn't want to go on your little date," Edward replied, his tight lipped smile loosening to a genuine smirk. Mike's shoulders slumped slightly and I felt the guilt beat way in my chest. And then the anger. What did Edward stinkin' Cullen know about anything? What gave him the right to comment on people's private conversations?

"Actually, Mike," I said through clenched teeth, reaching out to touch the arm that still held on to my backpack, but keeping my eyes trained on Edward's too perfect face.. "I was just about to say, before we were so _rudely_ interrupted, that I would really like to see the beach with you and your friends." I got brief satisfaction when Edward's smirk dropped to a thinly pressed line. _So there._ Of course, that was before I stopped to consider exactly what going would entail and why Edward's eyes, boiling with emotions, sent a tiny thrill up my spine. There was no time to delve deep into it, not that I wanted to, for Mike's beaming face was turning toward me and I had to smile back. It was infectious.

I tried not to notice when Edward stalked past us. I tried not to notice when we sat at our table that he was watching my every movement, but, most importantly, I tried not to notice the clock above the doors that ticked closer to Biology.

 **I know it's short, but my chapters always tend to be that way. I try really hard to make it to that 1000 word threshold though. For you guys. You're Welcome.**

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 **As Always,**

 **XOXO El**


	3. Liar Liar

I had never been late for class in my entire school career. I was a not a straight a student by any means, but I had always been a diligent rule follower. I stuck to the guidelines given to me by every symbol of authority that I had come across. With Dad being a police officer, _the chief police officer_ , I was always careful to behave in ways that would reflect upon his person respectfully, even when I had lived in Phoenix with my mother. I was an excellent driver who stuck religiously to things like speed limits and road signs. In the eighth grade when I went through a grunge period and wanted to die my hair a vivid green and paint my lips black, I had refrained. I knew Dad kept copies of my school pictures in his office at work.

So when I had considered ditching Biology all together that afternoon, I knew that I had a problem far greater than the dangerous looks of Edward Cullen. He scared me. Not just because he was tattooed in languages I couldn't read and gave off the air of someone who had partaken in a few crimes. No, there was something about the atmosphere surrounding him that gave me the heebie jeebies. Something instinctual, as if my subconscious had picked up on a factor far more worrisome that loitering. The kicker, the real problem that had me hesitating by the classroom door, was that it did not dull the pull that I had- the clear physical desire that tended to muddle my thoughts when his perfect lips parted to speak.

With a deep breath, I was in my seat before the final bell. Worse yet, today was a lab. We had to identify roots. Together. With the people at our table. Talking. Discussing.

Engaging.

Mr. Banner sat the microscope on the table with a thump that promised doom and I bent over the worksheet that accompanied it, scrawling our names at the top as quickly as I could while keeping it legible. I had angled my legs toward Edward, but, uncomfortably so, my upper body was still twisted to face the front of the class. From the corner of my eye, I watched his hand pull the piece of equipment toward him.

"Anaphase," he said clearly, his confidence causing my head to swivel toward him without command. I lifted an eyebrow, suddenly thankful that they didn't need much maintenance to keep form.

"Anaphase?" I asked, disbelieving, my pencil hesitating over the empty answer slot for Number One.

"Anaphase." He was sure and, it seemed, a little affronted that I had questioned him. My hand closed over the microscope before I thought too much about it and peeked through the lens. _Anaphase_. Silently, I scratched the word down on the paper and changed out the slides. The silence between us at that moment was deafening. He sat still, unnaturally still, and I couldn't tell if he was even breathing. I kept my eye on the new slide, knowing that he was staring at the side of my head and I didn't want to see the anger in his face.

"Prophase," I informed him without looking and turned to scribble it on the sheet.

"Do you mind?" His voice was tight and, without a word, I slid the microscope over to him, eyes still trained on the paper. His hand skimmed my own as he took it, sending an electric tingle through my fingertips and up my arm. I jerked my hand back but still, I did not look.

"Prophase," he sounded begrudging, as if he hoped that I had been wrong. I knew I wasn't, but to be fair, I had been in AP Biology in Phoenix. Not that he needed to know that. We were the first to finish the lab so there was plenty of time left in class and nothing to do with it. I reached into my bag to pull out my Calculus homework, but Edward had other ideas.

"I never pegged you for a party girl," he said suddenly and, shocked, my gaze flashed to his face. He looked thoughtful and a little confused, like I was a riddle that he couldn't quite figure out but he was doing his damndest to try. It was breathtaking and unsettling in one go. I recovered quickly, turning back to retrieve my book.

"It's not a party." He snorted at my remark, but I kept my head over my bag, feigning to look for a something.

"A La Push bonfire? It's a party." He seemed so matter of fact and I wondered quietly if Mike had fibbed when he saw the expression on my face. I dismissed it before the thought fully formed. I was more inclined to believe Mike over Edward. When I didn't reply to him, he pushed on. "I mean, you seem like a book by the cozy fire kind of girl. A quiet walk on the beach, A stroll through the woods." He was right. Except for the last part. I didn't do 'strolls through the woods'. Too many obstacles to trip over.

"You don't know anything about me," I replied, pulling my notebook out of my back and opening to an empty page. My comment had been emotionless, a simple stated fact. I had seen this line a million times. ' _You seem like a good girl, let me take you out to dinner and a movie'_ and then the creep tries to make you give him a handjob in the darkened theater.

"I would like to." And there it was, like clockwork. I wanted to roll my eyes as the hundreds of scenes from chick flicks played in my head. In those stories, the men were misunderstood guys with hearts of gold and you sat screaming on your couch for the stubborn girl to give the guy a chance. Those were movies, fantasy. This was real and Edward Cullen's heart did not pump out golden blood, crying out for true love. In fact, his heart probably wasn't even in his chest, but somewhere below the navel, pumping for a whole other reason.

"I'm not interested." He snorted and my face grew hot as my temper reared its head. I slammed my notebook shut and turned my entire body toward him, ready to unleash my aggravation, but all of it died on my lips. He was right there, inches from my face, his cool breath fanning over my skin and heating it with a different kind of blush. He watched me like a cat watches a mouse, only the mouse is drunk on the smell of the cat and helpless to escape. I felt my lips part and my eyes go glassy. A tickle in the back of my head tried to remind me that this was not good. Very bad. Something about classrooms and puddles and tattoos…. He smelled so nice. Musky, manly, heedy. _Sexy._ Letting him get to know me was truly the only option. Who else could I want? It was clear that he was the only one that could ever please me…

 _What?_

The bell rang, and the outside world rushed into my brain as Edward leaned back, a sinful smile spreading across his angelic face.

"I never pegged you for a liar, either." With that, he was gone. Up out of his seat far faster than I would have thought possible. I felt disoriented, like I woke up after sleeping for 16 hours straight. Mike was by my side, a look of worry overtaking his expression.

"Doesn't look like you stabbed him with a pencil today," he commented, blue eyes filled with hesitation, caution. I had a feeling this had happened to Mike before. He found someone he liked and then Edward swooped in and snatched them out of his fingertips. I felt guilty. I wasn't sure what had come over me. I didn't think like that…. Shaking away the uneasy feelings, I loaded my bag up and stood, looking up at Mike.

"Trust me," I said, maybe a little too loudly. "It's on my To-Do list." I smiled and allowed Mike to take my bag yet again.

Maybe I was a liar.

 **Hmmmmm. Where am I going with this? That must be what you're asking because I know EXACTLY where this is going.**

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 **As Always,**

 **XOXO El**


	4. That Thing

**I do not own the Twilight Saga. All belongs to her majesty SM.**

Charlie had been more than willing to let me go to La Push; something about old friends and fishing trips. I didn't remember any fishing trips but I had an uncanny ability to block painful and unnecessary things from my memory. Two years of ballet were completely out the window as well as many a surprise birthday dinner concocted at the hands of Renee. I was sure that this drive in Mike's car would accompany the black void that ate my less than desirable recollections. He had decided we would meet up at his parent's sports store so I had showed up at six o'clock sharp. To my dismay, it was not just Mike and I that were attending "the small get together". Jessica, the bouncing brunette, Lauren, the Straight As A Stick blonde, Tyler, Eric, and a few other unnamed classmates had joined. In total, there were nine of us carpooling to La Push.

Mike, Jessica, Eric and I were riding in Mike's car while the rest would ride in Tyler's van. In an instant, I noticed Jessica's clear infatuation with Mike, not that he took the time to really look. Jessica hung on to every word he said like it had the answer to the universe, but he paid her no mind. It was growing increasingly awkward because, with no Edward in the picture, one could see her utter devotion to my possible Beau. The guilt was unsettling. I had not had many friends before, so vying for the attentions of a guy with Jessica was a new concept. Would it really be fair of me to allow a relationship to blossom when I knew that losing one of the few friends I had would be the consequence, especially when my romantic inclination to him was lukewarm at best? The answer was a resounding 'No'. So, when Mike opened the door for me to sit up front and Jessica's face fell, I lied. I up played a nonexistent ailment of car sicknesses and told him, with a forlorn look, that I preferred to be in back where I didn't have to look at the road. His disappointment was clear, but Jessica was in the front seat. Mission Complete.

I leaned back in the seat on the way to La Push, trying to look as uneasy as possible and poor Eric had stuck to his side of the vehicle with apprehension. I wanted to snort at how he floundered his hands uselessly in my direction, attempting to distract me from my pretend illness without daring to come too close. Every so often, I would look forward to see Mike's eyes on me in the rearview while Jessica prattled on about shopping trips and movies. It sounded like she was trying to hint at Mike to ask her on a date, but was coming up empty handed. I decided I would have them together by the end of the night if it killed me.

La Push was beautiful in its dreariness, the gray water crashed against gray sand, but I revelled in the smell of salt and sea. It had been months since I had seen anything that resembled a beach and, though the high was only 65 degrees, I shrugged my jacket off to feel the breeze. An arm snaked around my shoulders and, looking over at Mike, I fought the urge to shrug it off. Instead, I opted to be fascinated with our new arrivals and, with a bright smile, trotted off toward our group of friends, whom had gathered around a fire pit, seated on large pieces of bone-white driftwood.

The 'new arrivals' in question were indeed breathtaking. Clearly Native American, the six boys that strolled over to the group were striking. They all could have been brothers with how closely they resembled each other. Though all shapes and sizes, the boys (young men?) were coiled with defined muscles, their bodies poised with underlying strength, and yet they did not feel… threatening. They felt more protective. As though, at any sense of danger, they would face it head on so we wouldn't have to. Shrugging the feeling off, I continued my scrutiny. Each had short cropped midnight hair… save one. And save _me_ , he was gorgeous. His long ebony locks flowed around his shoulders and down his back freely, proving thicker than my hair could ever be, and streaked with the occasional dark brown as if he spent his days outside. His large black eyes and strong, sharp features seemed familiar but I couldn't place him. His body, strong like the rest, was taller. He towered over his friends, his muscles bulging around him intimidatingly. He could have passed for a nightclub bouncer.

To my embarrassment, in the midst of my appraisal, his large eyes locked with face went utterly blank before russet skin broke to white as he gave me a wide smile, happy, though I had no idea why. He approached me quickly. Moving with a fluid grace that struck envy into my heart.

"Bella?" he asked, incredulous, his deep voice matching so clearly with his overwhelming physical assets. "Bella _Swan?!"_ I smiled, waving awkwardly as everyone's eyes (including Mike's) turned to me in shock. The boy stopped in front of me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug, before dropping back onto the sand. He steadied me as I teetered. "It's Jacob Black!" _Black… Black?_

"Billy Black's boy?" I asked, realization shocking me to my core. My God, he had grown. No longer before me stood a little boy with a tubby little belly and mud caking every inch of skin. This was not the child that played hide and seek with me in Charlie's backyard, cheating by ending his count to 100 too early. No, before me stood a killer- a _lady_ killer, a specimen of utmost superiority. I closed my mouth sharply. " _Jacob?!_ My God, what have they fed you, steroids?!" He threw his head back, filling the beach with a rich laugh that made my toes curl.

 _Jesus Christ._

"Just a lot of eggs," he said, his voice both euphoric and reminiscent. I could tell he was replaying many an adventure we shared before my fourteenth birthday when I had insisted that my father take me on vacation rather than spend the summers drowning in rain. I, myself, thought of the fun we had shared. "How is the truck running? I wasn't sure you'd like it when Charlie offered to buy it from us, but he swore you would."

"He was right," I insisted. "The truck runs like a dream. I'd take it over a fancy heap of scrap metal anyday." He beamed and I couldn't stop my answering smile. I was relieved, in all honesty. There was someone here that I wouldn't have to get to know to befriend, just reacquaint, and the prospect brought a sense of excitement. It was only after we were grinning foolishly at each other for a short while did I notice the silence surrounding us. Jacob must have noticed as well because he looked around sheepishly before engulfing my hand in his own and leading me to the group of boys.

"Guys, this is Bella Swan," he said, emphasizing my name a little more than I expected. There was a brief pause before I was greeted with rambunctious welcoming. Embry, Quill, Seth, Paul, and Sam introduced themselves one by one, though Paul and Sam were a little more mature in the way that they talked to me. No yippiness that resembled excited puppies came from those two but it didn't bother me. There was clearly no malice there so I felt no need to be hurt or alarmed.

Soon after the introductions ended and the sun was setting did the party begin. Yes, party. Tyler had backed his van to the edge of the beach and opened the hatch, allowing music from a radio station to pour out, coating the atmosphere with a sense of "let loose". Quill and Embry lit some driftwood in the firepit (I briefly dazzled in the colors), and Mike pulled out a large red cooler stowed in his trunk. To my chagrin, it was opened to reveal various types of alcohol.

"How did you-" I began to ask him, shocked, but he cut me off.

"Ah ah ah, Bella," he chastened me playfully. "It wouldn't do me any good to spill my secrets to the Chief's daughter now would it?" He grazed his thumb over my cheek bone quickly with a smile before tossing Eric a beer. I noticed Jessica's pout and decided it was time to smush the two of them into one. I had no idea where this inner Cupid was coming from, I wasn't a match maker by any means, but I needed this over with before Mike got too drunk and tried to fondle me or something. I walked over to Jessica, who sat on the biggest piece of driftwood alone, and planted myself at her side. It was silent for a beat or two between us before I got up the courage enough to side step my awkwardness.

"So you like Mike, huh?" I asked. Her baby blues went wide and her cheeks flushed.

"Bella," she sputtered out quickly. "I don't plan to- I wouldn't! I know he's your boyfriend and I shouldn't-"

"Jessica," I interrupted quickly before she could give herself an ulcer. "It's okay. He's not my boyfriend."

"But this is your date and-"

"Jessica," I said more firmly. "He's not my boyfriend. I mean, sure, I thought about it… but that thing just isn't there, you know? He's just… not my type." I tried carefully to word it as best I could but words were beginning to fail me. It didn't matter, Jessica was nodding slowly, thoughtfully.

"But he likes you," she whispered, her eyes ghosting past me to stare at the boy in question, laughing and talking without a care in the world. I glanced over my shoulder and there was no doubt he was handsome and great boyfriend material, just not _my_ boyfriend material.

"Do you want me to talk to him Jess?" I asked, smiling slyly and looking back to her. She paled slightly, but I could see the shimmer of hope there,

"Would you, Bella?" she whispered, leaning closer to me. "I know he likes you and I know you'll have to let him down a little… but could you?" I grinned and patted her shoulder, rising from the makeshift bench and making my way over to Jessica's source of enamourment. I leaned toward him to whisper in his ear.

"Can I talk to you?" I watched with dread when excitement overtook his features and we made our way out of the light of the fire, catcalls and whistles following us. I rolled my eyes and knew it would be just as embarrassing to walk back with a sullen Mike. I stopped just a little ways away and sat clumsily on the ground, kicking sand up into the wind as I went. When Mike sat by me, his body angle toward me, no doubt expecting a kiss.

"Mike," I began, my voice quiet under the crash of the waves. "I like you. You're nice." Realization began to dawn on his face and I rushed on. "I mean any girl would be lucky to have you-"

"Any girl but you," he concluded, his eyebrows knit together as he stared at his lap, his legs crossed under him. This was making me feel bad. I wanted to hug him and tell him I was sorry I couldn't be his girlfriend, but I didn't think physical contact right now was a good idea.

"It's just," I began before heaving a sigh of remorse. " I can't, Mike. The truth is that Jessica really likes you. I mean _really_ likes you and I wouldn't be a very good friend if I dated her crush." His eyes shot up to me, surprised and I suppressed the urge to grin. Hook, Line, and Sinker, I caught him (as Charlie would say).

"Jessica likes me?" he said, incredulous, looking over his shoulder to watch the girl shooting fidgety glances our way. She pretended to catch sight of a bug flying through the air when we caught her looking and Mike turned back to me grinning broadly. Our conversation ended quickly after that, me promising it wouldn't be awkward that he would be dating my friend, him promising that there was no hard feelings, us promising we'd still be great friends, all textbook really and I watched, smiling, as he stood and made his way over to Jessica. Her shocked eyes captured mine and I knew the look of pure panic was more of a 'what the hell am I going to say' rather than a 'save me'. I sat there for a few minutes, watching the large moon and taking in the funky croons of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers before my little bubble was penetrated by a large form plopping on the sand beside me. I glanced over shyly at Jacob.

I knew it was ridiculous to be any form of self conscious around him. We had seen each other in our underwear on this very beach when we went swimming with our dads (my flighty mother always forgot to pack my bathing suit and Jacob was a little boy who's tighties often sported cartoon characters). It was just different now… we were teenagers and he had grown into a rather… delightful looking young man and it had been over three years since we had last hung out.

"That was nice," he said, looking at me with a new sort of appraisal and, had it been anyone else, I would have been offended. Just because I was a teenage girl didn't mean that I had no soul. Instead, I shrugged. "Did you like him?" I shook my head no, still shooting Jacob sidelong glances. He nodded in the dark, his expression thoughtful. The silence grew between us, but it became comfortable quickly. I found that I liked that about Jacob. There was no point in filling the space with needless chit chat. Jacob handed me a cool beer, and, after popping the tab, that was how we spent the next hour, enjoying each other's company, lit by nothing but the moon. It was fun and blissfully Cullen-free.

I should have known it wouldn't last.

 **Phew, I hope that didn't bore you to death, but we got Jacob** _ **Jesus Christ**_ **Black.**

 **And what's gonna happen at this little shindig next. YOU'LL FIND OUT TOMORROW.**

 **Thank you again for those Favorite and Follows. And that lovely review. (Ayyye ACW1!)**

 **Be sure to keep Favoriting, Following, and Reviewing. It fills me up with appreciation!**

 **As Always,**

 **With Love,**

 **XOXO El**


	5. We'll see

**I do not own Twilight, just some plot.**

The roar of a panther interrupted our evening. Or, rather, what could be mistaken as a roar of a panther. The car was sleek and black, with tinted windows so dark, even making out the light of the dashboard would be impossible. It had to have a lit dashboard, probably a fancy back up camera that beeped when the bumper was too close to an object too. I bet it had self parking with a fancy british voice over the sound system saying "Of course, Mr. Wayne" everytime it was given a command. There was no doubt in my mind who drove that car and, to my surprise, Jacob was on the same page.

"Fucking Cullen," he hissed under his breath when the car screeched to a halt at the edge of the beach, spraying sand in the air like confetti. The doors opened and their group slipped out like… well, like they were doing a glamorous car commercial. From the back poured Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale. Emmett was Edward's larger, more socially appealing older brother. He was easy-going, if not a little perverted with the humor of a preteen, and wolly more pleasant to be around. How he managed Rosalie for a girlfriend, I would never guess. She was so frigid that Penguins could live in her honey hair and her beautiful face was constantly twisted in an expression of distaste. Particularly at Edward. She never paid me any mind and I liked it that way. I had seen her reduce a girl to tears with two words just because the fancy hit her and I had no desire to be on the receiving end of _that_. Following them was Jasper Hale, Rosalie's twin and that wasn't a shocker. He stood a head taller than she with the chiseled face of an actor playing the role of a southern outlaw. He was off putting and aloof. The one time I heard him speak, he sounded like he was fighting a severe case of constipation.

Then there was Alice.

How did one go about describing Alice. A whirlwind was too mild a description, but a tornado too destructive. In the week that I had spent at school, I had witnessed the utter organized chaos of Alice Cullen, the youngest child of the bunch. She was a year below me and she had managed to lead Prom committee, secure editor of the yearbook, Co-captain the cheerleading squad (with- you guessed it- Ms. Frigid), and still maintain her schooling. It would be infuriating if it weren't so impressive. The girl in question danced behind her eldest brother to be wrapped up in the arms of her distant cowboy and they made their way over to the driftwood circle.

Of course, I barely noticed them. My eyes, after the initial sweep of the group, watched the middle cullen child lope after them, the loud beep of his car locking a distant echo. He was dressed in a simple black gray t-shirt and jeans. No doubt, his shirt cost more than my entire collection of shirts, but it looked like it could have been made just for him, hugging the hard angles and soft dips of his muscular form. The short sleeves of his tee revealed that the lovely indiscernible texts decorating the side of his neck slid down to his arms, ending in an artistic jumble at his wrists. How it managed to look so… _attractive_ was beyond me. I had never been taken up by the sight of tattoos. They just never did it for me, but I think it had less to do with the ink and more to do with the man sporting it.

His eyes swept over the group of kids greeting their arrival, lingering on the couples until he stopped on Mike. Even from the edge of the darkness, hidden by Jacob's hulking form, I could see the scowl that settled over his face and I had the inkling that it had something to do with the liplock Mike and Jessica were currently partaking in. Was Edward jealous? It was clear, with his fickle attentions, that Jessica wasn't someone he would fret over the loss of and yet the daggers he was shooting at the back of Mike's currently preoccupied head sent shivers down my spine. I watched as Edward approached, his hand falling hard on Mike's shoulder, and bent down at the waste to whisper something in Mike's ear.

Mike shot up faster than a bullet, his mouth going off a mile a minute and from Edward's stance, I knew that a fight would ensue… and I couldn't sit by the wayside doing nothing. It was _my_ fault after all. I had set the two up, not that Edward had any business interfering in Jessica's love life and my temper, so delicate in regards to the bronze haired pain-in-the-ass, was flaring to life. I stood and marched with intent, as fast as I could without finding a face full of sand, toward the row about to take place.

"Bells?!" Jake called behind me and I heard him stumbling to his feet, confused at my haste. I pushed past Tyler and Eric, who were watching, apprehensive, but doing nothing, with impatience and just catching the last of Mike's heated retort.

"- a nice girl and she doesn't deserve the likes of you!" His voice was enraged, deep with fury that overshadowed his normally pleasant voice.

"-and I think that's for her to decide, don't you?" Edward replied, his voice cold and unbothered, though his face was twisted with rage. I felt a new appreciation for Mike's bravery. He stood hard against Edward's glare and I knew it couldn't have been easy. I barged my way between them without second thought, the urge to protect Mike from Edward's gaze overruling any hesitation about hurting macho pride.

"I think she has decided," I snapped, squaring my shoulders with bravery I didn't really feel as his face bled from anger to surprise to amusement. I _had_ darted in suddenly, so the surprise was understandable, but the amusement was confusing. "Jessica is here with Mike, she's _with_ Mike, so leave her the hell alone." I wanted to shut my eyes, because his were becoming entrancing again and the space between he and Mike had been sparse enough without me squeezing between the two, so I could almost feel the brush of his body against my own, but I held strong. I didn't waver and I knew the look I had cemented to my face. It was the look Charlie had when he was in a predicament but refused to budge. Like when his football team lost the playoffs to the Super Bowl and he decided he wasn't watching the damn thing because he cheered for his team or no team. It was pure stubborn will- jaw set, chin lifted, and eyes narrowed.

Edward, however, was beating back my courage faster than I could come up with it. His hands reached for me, cupping the back of my elbows as he bent toward me, eyes unblinking until his face disappeared from view, his breath blowing against my ear.

"Who said anything about Jessica?" he asked quietly, the hot air against the shell of cartilage made my knees go weak just as he pulled back slightly to meet my widened gaze. I could have feigned ignorance, truly I could, but the way his eyes scorched mine made it clear that Edward had no intention of assaulting Mike over Jessica. He had picked a tizzy solely for me and I felt like bleeding into the ground to save myself the humiliation. I had barged in completely ready to defend my bubbly friend's honor and it wasn't even her honor being threatened here… it was mine. The awkwardness of it all had people dispersing back to their groups, back to the music and back to the party. Mike was still behind me, but he had stepped back because I no longer felt his warmth. The words came to my lips faster than I had expected them to.

" I'd rather eat dirt," I replied, my voice strong, but quiet, only for the two of us. "If we were the last two people alive on this Earth and the only way to continue the humanity was to sleep with you, Edward Cullen, I'd see the end of our race off with a smile." Edward's grin was firmly in place, his eyes still lit with mischief.

"We'll see," he whispered, his hand lifting to graze my cheekbone, before he turned his back to me and making his way back to his brother, who sat with Rosalie on the trunk of Tyler's van. I would say he was skipping, but Edward didn't skip. There was a pip in his step that did not bode well for me.

Not at all.

 **It's short because I have problems making them longer. Often times, I think I should type out what I think is a chapter and keep adding to it until I hit a certain number of words.**

 **But then it starts feeling like homework instead of entertainment and that does not bode well.**

 **Not at all.**

 **Anyway! Thank you for those Favorites and Follows. I can never thank you enough, honestly.**

 **As for the Reviews…. Well, I can only say PLEASE REVIEW so many times, so maybe I'll start saying it in different languages for funsies.**

 **Also, I know I said I was gonna post two days ago, but I spent a while deciding if this chapter was even enough. Thus, the delay, BUT FRET NOT. I have delivered.**

 **As Always,**

 **Much Love,**

 **Xoxo El**


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